Ukrainian forces have carried out deep strikes inside Russia’s military-industrial facilities in the Udmurt region, the Ukrainian General Staff confirmed late on Saturday.
The regional head, Alexander Brechalov, while confirming the missile attack, said that Ukrainian drones struck “one of the republic’s facilities”.
Ukrainian military officials said that their forces used domestically produced and modified Flamingo missiles to hit the plant, located about 1,400 kilometres (800 miles) from Ukraine.
Earlier, Ukraine had used Western-made rockets and missiles to hit targets deep inside Russian territory, though after the US withdrew its support last year, its capabilities have significantly declined.
The plant, according to Ukrainian officials, was used to manufacture ballistic missiles that Russia has used against Kyiv.
According to Russian media sources, the target was the Votkinsk Machine Building Plant, a state-owned factory that produces Iskander ballistic missiles and nuclear-capable ICBMs.
Video footage posted by residents shows black smoke emerging from the area and blown-out windows across Votkinsk.
Russia temporarily closed several airports in the region following the attack. The Ukrainian military also said that it struck a gas processing facility in Russia’s Samara region.
The strike came days after US-brokered talks between Moscow and Kyiv ended on Wednesday with no breakthrough, as the war’s fourth anniversary nears.
The meetings in Switzerland were the third round organised by Washington, following earlier sessions in Abu Dhabi that officials called constructive but that yielded no progress.
A response to these strikes is yet to come from the Russian side; however, like in the past, Russia has responded with fierce strikes targeting Ukraine.
This was also seen when Kyiv damaged Russia’s strategic bomber fleet based in Engels last year, followed by a missile and drone attack on President Vladimir Putin’s residence in the Novgorod region.
